Red Sox: Jose Iglesias giving offense a boost

Tuesday

Jun 25, 2013 at 6:00 AMJun 25, 2013 at 10:19 AM

Bill Ballou Red Sox

The chance that Jose Iglesias will wind up this season as baseball's first .400 hitter since Ted Williams is remote. Actually, more than remote, sort of like the chance that Congress will decide to tear down the Capitol stone by stone and rebuild it in Lancaster.

Still, what Iglesias has done so far in 2013 is remarkable. As the Red Sox head into a nine-game homestand, he is hitting .426. Iglesias is a long way from being able to qualify for the official league batting race, with 121 plate appearances to his credit. That is about halfway to the threshold, which for him would be 241.

His .426 average is so high, however, that Iglesias could go into an 0-for-45 slump and still be hitting .300.

To bat .400 for a span of at least 100 at-bats, as Iglesias has done so far, is not at all unprecedented. What is unusual is for a player who was an offensive liability before he got hot, to be this hot for this long. Going into this year, Iglesias' career average in limited major league play was .135.

Before Iglesias, the most recent Sox hitters to have a hot stretch during which they hit .400 for 100 or more at-bats were Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez — both All-Star players — in 2011. Pedroia hit .403 from July 1 to Aug. 3; Gonzalez hit .402 from May 8 to June 26.

The last Boston batter to seriously flirt with batting .400 for a season was Nomar Garciaparra, another All-Star, in 2000. He was hitting .403 on July 20 and finished the season at .357, winning the American League batting title. Garciaparra's hottest stretch that season was from June 13 to Aug. 4, when he was 63 for 141 (.447).

Kevin Youkilis (2007) and Manny Ramirez (2006) — both All-Stars — have both hit .400 for 100 or more at-bats. When Williams, a Hall of Famer, hit .406 in 1941, his hottest stretch was from May 4 to June 6, when he was 52 for 111 (.468).

Hall of Fame member Wade Boggs had several very hot stretches during his prime years with Boston, but his hottest may have been the longest stretch of red-hot hitting in Red Sox history. In 1987, arguably Boggs' best all-around season with the Sox, he was 56 for 101 (.554) from May 26 to June 30.

Boston could use some more hitting like that now as it heads into this homestand in a bit of disarray. The Red Sox have been fortunate, as winning teams usually are, in that every other team in the division has suffered through periods of equal, or greater, disarray.

The Sox have been in first place every day starting with the night of May 26 even though they are only 15-13 (.536) since then. Most recently, they are 5-8 in their last 13 games, three of those victories coming in five games with the Rays.

In this upcoming homestand, Boston plays five games against National League opponents, something that should work to its advantage. The Red Sox are, since the start of the 2005 season, 52-22 vs. the National League at Fenway Park. Boston plays the Rockies tonight and Wednesday afternoon, then faces the very difficult task of dealing with the Blue Jays — currently the hottest team in the majors — for four games from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon.

The Sox finish the homestand with three games vs. the Padres.

In contrast to the unexpected production Iglesias has provided, first baseman Mike Napoli has done essentially nothing productive for more than a month. Beginning with May 16, Napoli has 28 hits — 23 singles, 3 doubles and 2 home runs. In a week's less time, Iglesias has 37 hits — 28 singles, 6 doubles, 2 triples and a home run.

As June comes to a close, John Farrell faces his toughest challenges yet as Red Sox manager. He has to find somebody to pitch the ninth inning effectively, has to turn Jon Lester's season around, has to compensate for the loss of Clay Buchholz's arm in the rotation and has to figure out what to do with Will Middlebrooks.

One thing Farrell need not worry about, at least for now, is what to do with Iglesias. He just has to put his name on the lineup card and let him swing away. Even if he doesn't get another hit for the next 10 games or so, Iglesias will still be a .300 hitter.